Behm Canal

{{Short description|Natural channel in the Alexander Archipelago}}

Behm Canal is a natural channel in the Alexander Archipelago, in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Alaska.

About {{convert|108|mi|km}} long, Behm Canal separates Revillagigedo Island from the mainland. From the Clarence Strait, Behm Canal extends north and northeast, through the Behm Narrows and by the mouth of the Unuk River, then south to Revillagigedo Channel.{{gnis|1893582|Behm Canal}}

The Behm Canal was charted and named by George Vancouver in 1793, in honor of Magnus von Behm, who was the governor of Kamchatka in 1779 when Captain James Cook's ships, with Vancouver among the crew, arrived at Petropavlovsk shortly after Cook was killed in Hawaii. It was Behm who carried the news of Cook's death to Europe.{{Cite web |url=http://pages.quicksilver.net.nz/jcr/~vancouver4.html |title=Alaska place-names |access-date=2008-05-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080708143622/http://pages.quicksilver.net.nz/jcr/~vancouver4.html |archive-date=2008-07-08 |url-status=dead }}

The canal is used by the Southeast Alaska Acoustic Measurement Facility (SEAFAC) as an acoustic testing site for United States Navy submarines.{{cite news |url=http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/22917/the-u-s-navy-has-a-critically-important-submarine-test-base-tucked-away-in-alaska |title=The U.S. Navy Has A Critically Important Submarine Test Base Tucked Away In Alaska |first=Tyler |last=Rogoway |date=August 15, 2018 |publisher=The War Zone}}

New Eddystone Rock is a craggy, much-photographed basalt island in Behm Canal.

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{{Coord|55|56|13|N|131|11|18|W|scale:1000000|display=title}}

Category:Straits of Alaska

Category:Bodies of water of Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska

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